The moment you’ve been waiting for. Permission to reopen. However, the business environment that Covid-19 sent everyone home from, isn’t the same when you return. We’ve all changed.

After a long stretch of concern, semi-isolation, and closed business locations, things are now opening back up. It’s happening on different timetables in different places, and with varying levels of enthusiasm and caution. Wherever you are, your success depends on understanding and adapting to how the people you know - your employees and customers - have changed.  

Beyond the new safety regulations that you’re expected to comply with, there’s another incredibly important factor that you can’t ignore - the psychology of your employees and customers. They, we all, feel differently now. Priorities have shifted, concerns have evolved, a sense of safety and security has become more prominent, and we’ve adjusted to sacrifices. Sure, we’re eager to get back to the way things were, but we can’t unless we completely throw caution to the wind, which most people won’t.

Emotion is the largest driver of loyalty.  How you make someone feel will have the most significant impact on their desire to be a part of the experience and return again.  

Our emotional reactions are most often instinctive. We see something, our brain reacts subconsciously, and it drives our conscious feelings and behaviors. If something makes us happy, we’re drawn to it. If something makes us concerned, angry or afraid, we hesitate and/or avoid it.  

In the New Now, there’s no doubt that these proven facts about how emotion impacts our behavior and loyalty will take on even greater significance, because we are all navigating a heightened state of emotional upheaval. 

The goal for your reopening is to strengthen your business. As a business leader, you’ll want to ensure positive emotional reactions from your employees and customers.  Here some important considerations:

Empathize and Adapt to Changed Employees

Your employees have changed since you last saw them physically at work. 

They’ve been dealing with new stresses in their life… family and health concerns, home-schooling, financial pressure, job insecurity, and so much more. Presumably, they’ve been doing all they can to be safe to avoid Covid-19 exposure, or they’ve battled the virus and have no interest in doing so again. They’ve also had time to think about their priorities, and hopefully enjoyed more time with their family. Many have seen how they can be productive with the work they do for you with a more at-home and flexible schedule. When returning to work, it will not be business as usual in their minds.

As a business leader and employer, your best move is to have empathy and adapt to best serve your employees.  Meet with them, listen to their experience, demonstrate openness to any concerns they many have, or adjustments they need.

It’s in your best interest, and theirs, for you to ensure their emotional and physical well-being as it relates to work. Don’t be cavalier about safety precautions, in fact, be the champion of safety in the workplace. Enforce social distancing, use of PPE, a stay-at-home policy if someone is not feeling well. Be open and flexible to their needs. Whatever it takes, if you make your employees feel like you’re taking their needs seriously, they will greatly appreciate it. 

This approach is not only rooted in common decency, there’s also data to support how it will strengthen your business:

Engaged and inspired employees are 125% more productive than one who is simply satisfied. (Bain & Company)  

and

Companies with engaged employees had 89% greater customer satisfaction and 50% higher customer loyalty than their disengaged counterparts. (Hay Group)

The last thing you want to do is cause your employees to have concerns and instinctive negative emotional reactions to how they feel treated, because your business will suffer.

Empathize and Adapt to Changed Customers 

Your customers have changed since you last saw them. 

They too have been dealing with all of the same stresses as your employees, but as consumers, they have made lifestyle and consumption adjustments. They’ve gotten used to doing more things online such as banking, shopping and healthcare. They are doing more things at home from cooking to cutting their hair. They have learned to sacrifice, and they have back up plans for what they need. They most likely have found ways to live without you.

As a business leader, your best move is to have empathy and adapt to address their current needs and mind state. Certainly, welcome back customers and convey your appreciation for their return. In doing so, be careful not to inadvertently turn them away. Health and safety will be a big concern on their minds, and any instinctive concern can cause them to walk away.  

For example, I was eager to return to the coffee shop where I use to go for at least 1 hour per weekday. When arriving, I noticed that they had outdoor seating and they were serving coffee from a cart outside. However, the people serving the coffee were wearing their face masks as chin straps and breathing all over the coffee cups. Alarm bells went off in my head and I turned away. Once loyal, and now, not so much.  Having coffee at home isn’t so bad.

47% of people will abandon a poor, impersonal or frustrating brand experience. (CMO Council)

Business leaders will not only need to think about physical safety, but also how to avoid in person interactions. Think about what you can do on premise to ease any possible concerns, and also think about what you can do to extend your reach to serve people remotely.

Be Empathic to Strengthen Your Business and Avoid Mis-Steps 

Everyone is in a race to reopen, to bring back employees, to bring back customers and to go back to the way things were. The most important consideration for business leaders is that we are living in the New Now, where things are constantly changing, and we need to adapt. 

To simplify how you reopen and bring strength back into your business, think about how you can make people’s lives better, and how you want people to feel. Let the answers be your guide.

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